In the sale of music recordings, such as long-play records, cassette tapes, and compact discs, a customer typically browses through racks of recordings, selects one or more, and carries his selections to an attendant who sells the selections to him. In the present context, this type of sales procedure involves three important features.
One, the number of recordings which can be stored on a given amount of floor space is limited because the recordings must be easy for the customer to both view and grasp. That is, the recordings cannot be stacked floor-to-ceiling. Two, according to some merchandising theories, a customer is more inclined to purchase a product if that product is displayed with numerous identical products. Such displays are expensive. Three, the requirement of the attendant imposes an expense, which is further increased if 24-hour operation is desired. Moreover, with 24-hour operation, the expense of the attendant is disproportionately increased for sales occurring at unusual hours. That is, fewer sales will be made per hour late at night, yet the cost of an attendant for a late-night hour does not necessarily decrease.
Automated vending equipment can eliminate some of these features. However, many automated vending systems use machinery which is designed for a specific vending task. This machinery is not easily adaptable to other vending tasks. The custom-designing of such machinery is expensive.